Six minutes of news from around the nation.

U.S. citizen arrested after he allegedly planned to bomb office of U.S. Embassy in Israel; Top Republicans threaten to block Trump's spending bill if the national debt is not reduced; NY groups push state lawmakers to protect families from deportation; Alabama's prison medical fees raise barriers to care, burden families; Maine's elusive Canada lynx can't hide from climate change.

Transcript

The Public News Service daily newscast for Memorial Day, May the 26th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

A man was arrested at JFK Airport in New York Sunday, following an alleged attempt to firebomb a branch of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

That from The Guardian.

They report the man, named Joseph Neumayer, is a dual American and German citizen and was detained in Israel May 19th after a hostile incident where he allegedly spit on a security guard.

A search of the backpack he left behind at the embassy after the confrontation revealed three rudimentary improvised incendiary devices, commonly known as Molotov cocktails.

Officials were able to track him to his hotel, where he was arrested.

And Donald Trump has been warned by fiscal hawks within his own party in the U.S.

Senate that he must get serious about cutting government spending and reducing international debt, or else they will block the passage of his signature tax-cutting legislation, known as the big beautiful bill.

That from the Guardian.

They report Ron Johnson, the Republican senator from Wisconsin who rose to prominence as a fiscal hardliner with the Tea Party, issued the warning to the president on Sunday.

The Guardian notes that the bill squeaked through the U.S. House by just one vote Thursday.

It now faces a perilous welcome in the Senate.

Next to New York, where lawmakers are considering legislation to prevent local and state resources from being used by federal immigration authorities to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants.

The New York for All Act would also restrict local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws and ensure people in custody are informed of their rights before being interrogated by ICE.

Luba Cortes with the immigration rights group Make the Road New York says families are being needlessly separated.

"Having these New Yorkers, many who have created lives here, being targeted by senseless enforcement is not right and this bill would help prevent a lot of those incidents."

New Jersey, Washington, Illinois and California have passed similar laws.

President Donald Trump recently called for an additional 20,000 officers to help with deportation efforts, including more local officers deputized to work with federal agents. border czar Tom Homan says federal agents will flood New York State unless Governor Kathy Hochul cooperates with his demands.

She recently criticized what she calls renegade county sheriffs in Broome and Nassau counties who've signed agreements to work with ICE.

Cortez says the legislation would prevent this and force agents to present a warrant before conducting any raids.

"So we're seeing more and more counties ask for these collaborations and it creates a lot of hearing community members to live in those counties and the state is not protecting them.

A recent Siena College poll found a majority of New Yorkers support deportations of undocumented immigrants if they have a criminal conviction.

For New York News Connection, I'm Catherine Carley.

This is public news service.

Medical co-pays in Alabama prisons can outpace what people behind bars earn in a week.

Wanda Bertram with the Prison Policy Initiative says their latest review finds these fees make it harder for people to access care and in many southern states, people behind bars aren't paid at all for their labor.

So the copays, which tend to range from about 2 to $5, nothing for you or me actually do deter people from seeking care in many cases, including cases where they really do need medical attention.

In Alabama, the Department of Corrections charges a $4 copay for medical visits requested by incarcerated people or those that result in treatment.

Additional fees can apply to missed appointments, replacement items such as glasses and even injuries if the person is found responsible.

However, those with less than $20 in their prison account for 90 days are considered unable to pay and are not charged.

Shantia Hudson reporting.

And from the Hill, President Trump Sunday took new shots at Harvard University saying he wants to know exactly who the foreign students enrolls are, after the Department of Homeland Security last week sought to block ability to enroll foreign students.

Finally, Maine is home to a substantial population of Canada lynx, but climate change and encroaching development are making it harder for this elusive forest predator to survive.

Research shows seasonal snow packs throughout New England have shrunk significantly over the past 40 years, declining between 10 and 20 percent each decade.

Eric Cluess with the non-profit conservation group Defenders of Wildlife says that's bad news for both the lynx and its primary food source, the snowshoe hare.

They're cold adapted, they thrive in deep snow and they need that deep snow to be able to hunt and forage properly.

As we're seeing decreasing snow packs with climate change, it really presents a pretty significant threat.

Cluess says the lynx's quiet behavior and ability to camouflage itself make it difficult to get solid data on the population.

Estimates put its numbers between 600 and just over 1,000 in Maine.

The Canada lynx was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2000, after years of logging fragmented much of their boreal forest habitat.

The Trump administration says these kinds of protections are slowing economic growth, and contends that habitat destruction is not the same as intentionally hurting a species.

Cluess disagrees, and says allowing more extractive industries into Maine's forests will make for the lynx to reproduce.

Sometimes it's worthwhile to set aside some of our priorities as humans to look at what we can do to protect really some of the more interesting species we have out there on the landscape.

The public comment period on the most recent proposed rule change to the Endangered Species Act runs through May 19th.

For Maine News Service, I'm Catherine Carley.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

Member and listener supported.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.